A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America [Hardcover]

Steve N.G. Howell (Author), Sophie Webb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 1995

This field guide covers the 1070 birds species of North American, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, and western Nicaragua. More than 180 species are endemic to this region. Richly illustrated with 71 colour plates and additional black-and-white drawings, it describes the birds' appearance, voice, habitat, behaviour (including nests and eggs), and distribution. Introductory chapters give background information.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`... a must for anyone with an interest in neotropical birds' David Tomlinson, New Scientist, August 1995

`This guide is a major contribution to field ornithology and birding in Mexico and northern Central America. Most highly recommended.' Wildlife Activist, No. 25, December 1995

`Few, however, who actually looked at this book would question its importance, as it radiates authority and excellence. One of its most prominent features is the sheer quantity of information not available from any of the region's comparable field guides ... maps are a highly commendable ... the plates are very good; they are accurate in plumage details and postures, and species within a plate are to scale. Especially striking are the plates depicting cryptically plumaged species such as owls (plates 25 and 26), nightjars (plate 27) and sparrows (plates 63 and 64) ... wealth of information presented and its excellence. Few guides are better value for money: produced on good quality paper with 71 colour plates, the softback edition costs only L25.00. It will quickly become the main guide to the region's birds.' Adrian Long, The Ibis, 1996, Vol. 138

`impressive book ... As a guide to one of the ornithologically richest parts of the world, this book is unlikely to be superseded for a very long time.' Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, Volume 115, No. 3, September 1995

`This is a first-class book by any standards and will clearly not be superseded in the foreseeable future.' Bryan Sage, Country-Side, October-November 1995

`the book is well researched, produced, and published, a valuable addition to any birdwatcher's library ... a most invaluable resource' Jack Siegel, Nature Canada, Autumn 1996

`...The result of this immense labor is not just a very fine field guide, but also a manual to the birds of Mexico and northern central America. This extraordinary achievement is not likely to be improved in the near future...This wonderful book treats about 1070 species...the maps in Howell and Webb are excellent....mandatory reading not only for all birders but also for some professional ornithologists...superb, extremely well-prepared species accounts, its very clear range maps, and its magnificent plates, which are beautifully reproduced, all converge towards making this book an exceptional volume' Ornitologia Neotropical (1997) 8: 195-236 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Steve N.G. Howell is a Research Associate of the Point Reyes Bird Observatory in Stinson Beach, California.
Sophie Webb has been drawing and studying birds most of her life. She is also a Research Associate at the Point Reyes Observatory.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1010 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198540132
• ISBN-13: 978-0198540137
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,659,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best field guide to date anywhere!, December 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America (Hardcover)

After reading this guide almost cover to cover, and field testing it in several locations in the guide area, I believe that this may very well be the best bird guide that has ever been written for a geographical area. The book is quite large (23.3 x 14.3 x 4.4 cm) and heavy (about 3 lbs), with 71 color plates sandwiched between over 850 pages of text. In spite of it being a bit cumbersome in the field, it is an essential resource that should always be close at hand when studying birds of this region.

The introduction is a lengthy 90 pages that includes a wealth of information such as geography, climate, ornithological history, conservation efforts per country, taxonomy, and an excellent outline of the species accounts which includes a bird topography page and a glossary for looking up words like heterodactyl or vermiculations. It can not be overstated that all of this is worth reading for a greater understanding of the species' descriptions.

The species accounts are packed with information and written in a easily accessed style. The accounts are taxonomically organized and preceding every taxonomic order, family and large genus is an introduction concerning their identification and habits. Every species is named by its American name, latin name, and its Spanish name. I have found the Spanish names to be almost worthless since they are so regional, but I am glad to see that Howell has made an attempt at standardizing them. All the species identification pieces are well written with sexual and age differences given lots of space. I particularly like the voice sections where he writes out in letters how he hears the songs and calls. There are some songs and calls of resident birds that he has omitted, but it would take up too much space to include all the calls. And, of course, there are many calls that he has written that I hear differently which is to be expected when dealing with sounds. The habitat and habits section informs as to where one is likely to find a certain species and to what it might be doing. Nidification is also covered in this section. The similar species section is excellent for differentiating between look-alikes. And the status and distribution section tells you how rare or common a species is in the geographical areas it inhabits. Elevational limits are also given here. This section is aided greatly by the superb range maps which accompany most species. They delimit summer and winter ranges as well as showing migratory pathways. Vagrants and isolated breeding colony locations are shown with an asterisk or dot respectively. The notes section at the end gives overall ranges and may inform of a name or taxonomic change that Howell made that was not recognized by the AOU at the time of printing.

The 71 plates were all expertly drawn by Sophie Webb illustrating mainly the species that occur in the guide region, but not in the U.S. There are several North American species included, however, for the sake of comparison. I particularly like the plates for showing age, sex and regional differences within a species. I also find it very helpful having species such as raptors and parrots depicted perched and in flight. Facing the plates are the bird names and short descriptions that should be sufficent for most identifications.

With nearly 26 pages of bibliography and 74 months of field work by the author and artist, this is an extremely well researched field guide. Even so, during my 6 mos. of travelling in this region, I have discovered many birds in places where they have never been seen before or seen only once or twice prior. Without the rangemaps in this field guide though I probably would not have realized that a Sandwich Tern is unheard of on a land-locked lake in the middle of Guatemala. And thus, I would not have known to document it. This field guide is not meant to be the final chapter in Middle American ornithology. In fact, it shows what gaps still exist in our knowledge of the birds in this region and allows us to start filling them in.

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Neotropical Field Guide - Hands down!, June 10, 2003

By 

V. Burgett "Tropical Bird Enthusiast" (Bellingham, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America (Paperback)

I will be brief - I find this to be the best field guide to the birds of any neotropical region currently available, and I pretty much have studied them all on depth! The only guides that come close to this level of usefulness are Hilty's Columbia field guide and the new Ridgely/Greenfield Ecuador 2 volume set. This book has excellent, seasonally specific range maps, and illustrates many plumage variations. I am astonished to read other reviews in which this book is considered cumbersome, because all too often smaller, lighter books sacrifice completness of information and thoroughness, which compromises their usefulness. True, it's a hefty volume, but it treats a complex avifauna without sacrificing necessary information. The other criticism I was surprised by was that the pictures were too "cartoonlike"; I have found these plates to be some of the most useful in the field, for they emphasize key characteristics with clarity. In the field, simplicity is far more practical than overly-detailed artwork which may be more lifelike, but blurs the differences between species. Anyway, praise for Howell! May this volume set an example for future field guides throughout Latin America!

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very useful and informative guide, even for a beginner!, December 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America (Paperback)

When I first received this book, I was overwhelmed by its size and weight - it is bigger than the typical field guide. However, after using it for one week in Mexico I was won over. It contains a wealth of useful well-organized info, about each species, plus plates and drawings which are both beautiful and carefully accurate. I found myself reading in it extensively nearly every evening, just for pleasure. Helpful tip: supplement it with a standard North American field guide. Common NA species which occur in Mexico and Central America are not always pictured in plates or drawings, though they are clearly described.